Manchester City has been the favorites to win the league for a while but after its 4–1 win over Arsenal on Wednesday, it now has the title in its own hands. It’s still not top, but City is now just two points behind Arsenal with two games in hand and, given how well it is playing and the fact that Arsenal is without a win in four, it’s surely just a matter of time before a fifth Premier League in six years is wrapped up.
Arsenal’s three draws in a row had taken some of the heat out of this game—had it held on to two-goal leads against Liverpool and West Ham, had it managed to beat last-place Southampton, it would have been 11 points clear, which might have changed the dynamic. Arsenal really needed a win to restore credibility to its title hopes and there wasn’t a second on Wednesday night when that looked likely. City dominated from the start and just kept dominating.
The early goal clearly helped. Arsenal was bold in its press, perhaps seeing how Bayern had unsettled City at times in its Champions League quarterfinal (albeit Bayern ended up losing 4-1 on aggregate). But Kyle Walker, a slightly surprising selection, slotting in on the right as Manuel Akanji moved to left back to cover for the injured Nathan Aké, lofted a ball over the phalanx of Arsenal shirts and the away side, suddenly, was exposed. Erling Haaland easily held off Rob Holding and headed the ball down to Kevin De Bruyne, who had got in front of Thomas Partey, and the Belgian ran on before clipping a crisp finish past Aaron Ramsdale from outside the box.
